Purple vs. House Finch, Pt. II - 24 Jan 2016


I took the scope outside for the first time since mid-October. With the Golden-crowned and Harris' Sparrows visiting the feeders I've been doing all of my digiscoping and photographing through a window. It gets me close to the birds without spooking them, but windows make horrible filters and result in softer-than-normal images. But, Purple Finches have arrived, and the sun was shining for the first time in ages, so I needed to do some real digiscoping.

I crouched near the back of the house and waited for the birds to arrive. While waiting I could hear a cacauphony of Dark-eyed Juncos from the woods nearby, and a flock of six Eastern Bluebirds flew overhead. The first Northern Cardinal song heralded a hint of spring!

I'd seen a pair of female/juvenile Purple Finches the past several days, but had yet to have seen a male. Until now. A pair of bright, cranberry-colored males flew in and foraged among the male House Finches and made for a nice study in contrast. Note the lack of brown belly and flank streaks and the red coloration that extends up onto the wings and back. The House Finch males are redder in coloration with distinct brown streaks on the lower belly and flanks.








The female Purple Finch is more distinctly different, as described in previous posts.



Female House Finch for comparison.


Brownton Abbey, 26340 Higgins Way, Wayne, Michigan, US
Jan 24, 2016 9:53 AM - 10:03 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments:     Sunny, cool, 30F
8 species

Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)  1
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  4
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)  12
Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus)  4
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  4
American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea)  1
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)  12
Harris's Sparrow (Zonotrichia querula)  1     Continuing bird. Digiscoped from outside the house. 20' away

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S28145605

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)